Alice Victoria Winslow – Favourite Things

Alice Victoria Winslow is a screenwriter and actress who co-wrote the new Jane Austin adaption of Persuasion for Netflix, starring Dakota Johnson and Henry Golding. Born in the US, Alice Victoria Winslow trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, before going on to star in The Hook Down and Hot Spot, which she also wrote. In 2019, she won Best Actress at the Independent Shorts Awards for her performance in Glaciers. Persuasion is available on Netflix now.

These are a few of Alice Victoria Winslow’s favourite things…

BoJack Horseman 

It took me a while to finally watch this show, despite everyone I know swearing I would love it. I have trouble getting into animation sometimes, but I’ve finally started, and MAN OH MAN, AM I HOOKED. It’s some of the smartest writing on television — hilarious but so layered and profoundly moving as well. 

Babak Ganjei shop 

My friend Babak makes incredibly funny topographic artwork. I have a handful of his framed works and t-shirts, and they never cease to make me laugh. His sensibility is so unique but also so relatable. It’s especially gratifying to walk around wearing my “Dead Inside” t-shirt. I get a lot of funny looks, but when people smile, I know we’re on the same page. 

The Hudson Line 

I grew up in the Hudson Valley, in New York state, right on the banks of the Hudson River. It’s one of the most beautiful rivers in the world (yes, I’m biased and have not seen all the rivers in the world, but I stand by that superlative). The Metro-North train line that runs from Manhattan to Poughkeepsie along The Hudson is breathtaking, and though I’ve done the ride hundreds of thousands of times, it still puts me in a state of awe. That train brought my parents home to me from work every night as a kid and later became the train I took to visit them when I lived in New York. So it’s something of a sacred route in my life.   

Air travel 

Hear me out. Yes, the seats are small, the lines are a nightmare, and the snack selections keep getting worse. But I never feel freer than when I am on an aeroplane. The in-flight experience has a magic quality to it because it is completely lifted from the timeline of the rest of my life. It’s time that feels completely my own in a way it never feels on land. Also, maybe it’s the altitude, but I seem to do my best creative work at 40,000 feet. I’ve also had some major life epiphanies mid-air. A few times I’ve landed with the feeling I am a completely different person than the person I was at take-off. If it weren’t so bad for the environment, I would try to arrange a situation where I could just hop on a long flight whenever I had a creative deadline or a big personal decision looming. 

Kenwood Ladies’ Pond 

Is there anything more healing than an English pond? When I’m lucky enough to be in London in the summer, I love getting up early on a hot day and heading to Hampstead Heath to do some laps around the Ladies’ Pond. Any stress slips right away. I feel at one with all the swimmers who’ve traced the loop before me — all the stress they were carrying and washing away — and all the swimmers who will trace the loop for years to come. Also, the ducks. I feel one with the ducks. I love those ducks.     

Enjoyed Alice Victoria Winslow’s favourites? Explore last week’s Favourite Things here.